Nate Robinson shows what he’s got

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Little Big Man got his first Garden standing ovation with 49.1 seconds left in the first quarter of the Celtics’ 110-106 win against the New York Knicks last night.

He’s hoping he earns the next one.

The first was a dry run for Nate Robinson, the newly acquired 5-foot-9 point guard and three-time NBA dunk champion who a week ago was wearing the colors of the team he was now pressing all over the parquet during just over a 16-minute appearance in unfamiliar green and white.

Freed from the doghouse in which he’d been imprisoned by Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni by a trade-deadline deal that sent him to the Celts for Eddie House (who got his own standing ovation for services rendered), Robinson knows he’s got what Tiger Woods would love - a new lease on life.

What he does with it is up to him but the loud and welcoming ovation he received was a sign that much awaits a guy if he lights up the floor the way he sometimes did in New York.

“I’m known for dunking, winning the dunk contest three times, but that’s not all Nate Robinson, if you follow how I play the game,” Robinson said about Nate Robinson when asked about (who else?) Nate Robinson. “I play hard. I play as a teammate. I get the crowd involved. I feed off the energy of the crowd and my teammates. I play for the love of the game. It’s not that I just dunk because in the games I barely dunk. I do a lot of other things that people overlook because they just watch me once a year in the dunk contest. There’s more to Nate Robinson than just that. I wanna be the best on the court, so I play accordingly.

“That’s who Nate Robinson is. That’s what you’re going to get out of me every night.”

That unfortunately did not include last night, in which he went a dismal 2-for-7 with more fouls (two) than either assists (one) or rebounds (one). Although his efforts did not net the numbers he would have liked, it did enough that his new boss was talking about the possibilities of Nate being Nate in the same backcourt with Rajon being Rondo.

“The combination will be terrific once we get it right,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We had such a speed advantage on the floor and we really didn’t take advantage of it. They almost ran into each other twice trying to get to the basket. It’s just going to take some time. I do like the combination.”

Last night Robinson didn’t stand tall, which isn’t easy for him on the best of nights, but he did stand close enough to Rondo to make the latter look like he’d grown a foot in the past 24 hours. He hadn’t but don’t be surprised if Rondo finds as many opportunities as he can to stand next to the team’s new Little Big Man.

If that means they’re on the court at the same time that’s fine by Robinson.

“I’m looking forward to keeping my mind free,” Robinson said. “No detours. I’m on a track and I’m not looking for any detours. I’m just going to have my mind focused on the prize and that’s to win games in the playoffs and win a championship and help this team to do that no matter what it is. Whether I play one minute or 30 minutes I’m going to be here helping this team and whenever my number is called I will be ready to play. I thank God for the opportunity. I thank God that He put me through that whole month of sitting down and watching. I think it made me stronger and really believe that you can’t take this game for granted.

“This is all I know is basketball. I love it dearly so I’m not going to let myself take it away from me again. This is a brand new start for me.”

On this first night in Boston, that was reason enough to give the Little Big Man a hand. Next time will be soon enough to make him earn it.